Study of chiroptical effects on the novel chiral photonic structure

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate a novel chiral photonic crystal with thin thickness and small unit cells via numerical calculations. The multi-band circular dichroism is found in a wide frequency range from 400 to 600 THz by studying the transmission properties.

Design/methodology/approach

To investigate this chiral photonic structure, refection coefficients are analytically computed using finite element method. Numerical results are given, and physical properties are discussed, including the optical rotation, the circular dichroism and the absorption.

Findings

The results of this modeling and simulation under COMSOL multiphysics environment have led the authors to study the scattered parameters such as the coefficient of transmission (S21) and the coefficient of reflection (S11) for a 2D CPC nanostructure. The authors have also developed script under the Matlab environment which studies absorption and circular dichroism and ensure the existence of optical activity. According to the obtained results, the coefficient of transmission is proportional to the parameter of chirality.

Originality/value

The authors have designed a novel chiral photonic structure that exhibits larger circular dichroism. The CD spectrum has typically both positive and negative bands. The design principles defined in this work, which combine the concepts of the photonic crystal with the chiral structure (optical activity, circular dichroism and absorption), represent a model for simulation of the properties of a more complex chiral photonic structure. These results led to realization of novel circularly polarized devices in nanotechnologies.

Citation

Zara, C., Mezache, Z. and Benabdelaziz, F. (2020), "Study of chiroptical effects on the novel chiral photonic structure", Multidiscipline Modeling in Materials and Structures, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 501-507. https://doi.org/10.1108/MMMS-11-2018-0196